


Dies Irae

by Olivier_Mira



Category: Noblesse (Manhwa)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Battle, Bloodlust, Fix-It, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Panic, Rage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-22 15:09:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15584649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olivier_Mira/pseuds/Olivier_Mira
Summary: WARNING: SPOILERS for chapter 524! Continue at your own risk!Frankenstein realizes too late what Crombel is up to and he is far away. Can he make it in time to save his Master and the children?





	Dies Irae

Frankenstein kept hoping he was going to wake up from this nightmare, but it just kept happening. As he and the Third Elder stood frantically trying to trace the incoming Union satellites with Tao, pushing six shades of exhaustion after all that had transpired in the past week, he couldn’t help but think… _How the hell had things gotten so bad so fast?_

The Union had always been formidable, there was no doubt about that. And Frankenstein had been deeply suspicious of Crombel ever since he had appeared on his radar. Particularly after what he had heard from M-21 about how cunningly vicious that bastard was. But their recent lackluster exploits had hardly pointed toward them being suddenly capable of _world domination._ Frankenstein had been tracking them for centuries. How the hell had they built a fucking arsenal right under his nose?

_I’ve been careless. And negligent. And incredibly foolish._

A thousand _if only’s_ were running through his head at blinding speed: if only he had flattened Crombel when he had the chance; if only he had been able to install a spy inside the Union; if only he had studied Tao’s world of computers and technology a little harder – what good was it being a genius with knives if your enemies had gigantic guns?

The truth was, he knew the reason – and it was like a knife twisting in his gut – he had been out of the game for 820 years. That’s why he was so far behind. Sure, he had kept up with the modern world and had tried his best to keep tabs on what the Powers That Be were up to. But the vast majority of his time and energy during those centuries had been spent searching for his Master. And since Raizel had returned, the bulk of his efforts had gone into protecting him and stabilizing his condition.

Of course, he didn’t begrudge his Master any of that time. Perish the thought! But Frankenstein had always been a realist and he couldn’t deny the reality of the situation. It just seemed like he could have gotten his shit together a little earlier. While everything he had done had made sense at the time, he was kicking himself for not taking the impending threat of the Union – and especially Crombel - more seriously.

 _Nothing to be done about it now._ He tried to focus on the task at hand. At least he had managed to wrangle Tao away from the Union, that was something. If Tao had been working against them at this point, they’d probably all be dead. _I suppose I really do owe that kid a raise._

“Boss, we have a situation.”

Frankenstein immediately snapped his attention back to Tao’s face on the screen. “What’s going on?”

“Crombel appears to be charging another satellite.”

 _Shit. Not good._ That last one he sent out to sea was powerful enough to take out an entire city block at least.

“Can you tell which one?”

“It’s one of the ones we don’t have any info on, hang on…” 

Tao’s normally chipper voice was starting to sound strained under pressure. Frankenstein should really say something reassuring. They had to keep their morale up, otherwise -

“Shit. Shit _fire!_ ”

 _What the hell was that supposed to mean?_ That kid had the weirdest expressions.

“Tao, can you please just tell us –”

But he didn’t need to. Suddenly, Frankenstein’s world went absolutely pitch black. _Master! Master was in danger!_ A wave of nausea hit him like punch in the gut from an overgrown werewolf and he almost toppled straight on top of the 3rd Elder, who was completely confused as to what the hell was happening. He clued in when Frankenstein’s clawed hand ripped the back straight off his leather chair and Tao’s panicked voice screeched over the video chat:

“It’s _here!_ The target is here, this _house!_ ”

Frankenstein could see his skin already erupting in a maelstrom of violet. The parquet floor they were standing on had begun to crack under his feet. He knew he only had seconds before he was going to be completely enveloped in a torrent of pure rage. Pushing the bewildered 3rd Elder out the way, he snarled at Tao:

“Tao! Emergency Protocol 999. _Do. you. understand._ ” He barely recognized his own voice. Tao looked like he had seen a ghost. A very violent ghost.

“Y-yes, Sir!”

With that Frankenstein snapped. Not even bothering with the exit, he smashed straight through the roof of the compound, not giving a rat’s ass about the mess he was leaving for the 3rd Elder. _I never should have come here! Why did I even bother with him? I never should have left Master! I never should have…!_

But coherent, personal thoughts were soon beyond him. He was moving so fast that his clothes had caught fire even before he had a chance to transform them. The Dark Spear was _screaming,_ a horrible, hideous howl that anyone who happened to hear would have been struck dumb, paralyzed with terror. Normally it was dangerous for Frankenstein to transform so quickly, but tonight, he welcomed it.

_Yes, my delectable Demon Lover. We shall dine tonight. They will pay. We will take them ALL out! Not just Crombel – the entire fucking Union! Every single goddamned one of them! The Union ends – TONIGHT!_

There was one image seared into the back of his brain and he used it to propel himself forward even though traveling at such breakneck speed had started to cause him intense pain – that of Raizel’s frightened face, looking straight up to the sky, knowing that death was coming from above. And his Master’s one thought in that moment was not for himself – no, of course it wasn’t – it was **_the children…!_**

As his body temperature rose past that which would kill a human being and his nostrils filled with the acrid stench of burning flesh, Frankenstein wondered what it would feel like to actually tear Crombel limb from limb. He hadn’t done it in a while. Really, he was overdue. Ripping someone’s still-beating heart out of their chest was just so satisfying. Then, there was always flaying. When was the last time he had flayed someone alive? Really, it had been centuries. Maybe he’d let M-21 do it? _Nah, the kid has seen enough._

What was it that ingenious Russian fellow used to do? Ivan the Terrible, they called him. He should really start calling himself _Frankenstein the Terrible_. Maybe it would catch on after this evening. He’d been called worse. Supposedly, the Russian dictator’s preferred method of torture was to take someone by the hair and dunk them into boiling water, then freezing water, repeatedly, until their skin fell off. Now _that_ was the proper way to flay someone! Crombel deserved nothing less. Maybe he would cry and beg? Frankenstein missed crying and begging. Where had all this good guy shit gotten him, anyway? The entire world was exploding. Might as well _fuck. shit. up._

The rational part of him – what was left of it, pushed back into a tiny corner of his mind – was desperately trying to get something, _anything_ from his Master. Any sign that he was alive, that he was okay, that the children were okay. _Why were the kids even there?? What had happened? Why had I left him? What was I thinking??_

Unfortunately, the Dark Spear had an answer for him and in this state, he was powerless against its seething wrath. “You wanted to join the fight. You wanted to come out with Us. Because you belong with Us. Because you are nothing but a murdering monster. You didn’t want Him to see you like this. You tell Him lies. You tell Him lies about who you are. This is who you are. Join Us!”

Because he had so few choices in that moment, Frankenstein made a deal with the Devil.

_You get me there in time to save my Master and I will give you more murder than even you can handle._

There was a loud _crack_  and Frankenstein found himself suddenly in excruciating pain, more than he’d ever felt in his life. It was as if he had been struck by lightning – or, more accurately, that he had become lightning itself. The thick scent of ozone filled the air and it felt as if each of his individual atoms were splitting, then fusing, then splitting again. It was absolute agony, but he was beyond caring. Saving his Master and the children was the only thing that mattered now. If that meant he would go down in a blaze of violet glory, so be it.

The Dark Spear trailed behind him like the tail of a comet hurtling through space. _If the humans weren’t convinced that this was the end of the world, they will be now._ In his altered state, he could suddenly see everything with crystal clarity. All of Korea spread out before him like a map drawn by a child and the path to his house – _their_ house, the house he had built for his Master, the house that so many lost souls had recently begun to call their home – was lit up like a landing strip.

He felt Raizel’s presence before he saw him, a glowing red beacon hanging in the sky, literally holding back imminent death with his bare hands. Death was winning; his beleaguered Master was sinking lower and lower, clearly in terrible pain, Crombel’s lethal beam gaining momentum by the second and if Frankenstein still had a beating heart in that moment, it would have shattered.

But Frankenstein’s fragile heart had been locked far away and the only being currently present was Darkness Itself. Darkness did not hesitate. Altering his course so that he was now flying straight into the upper atmosphere, he pushed himself past all conceivable limits, traveling as far out as he could possibly go without becoming a literal inferno. When he reached the point where he could feel his cells literally combusting, he halted midair, sensing the satellite’s exact location.

If any living creature had seen Frankenstein in that moment, they would have collapsed to their knees in paroxysms of terror. Purple skin had given away to near black, like an obsidian iris, carefully cultivated to mirror the very night sky. Violet flames leapt from the eyes of a madman, smoldering with sheer, unbridled rage. As he raised his terrifying weapon, which had swollen nearly three times its normal size, he let out a bloodcurdling shriek, the likes of which had not been heard since Aztec warriors paralyzed their enemies in mortal terror with their death whistles.

The Dark Spear crackled with vengeance as it shot straight through the outer layers of the atmosphere and out into space. Had the scientist in Frankenstein been conscious at that point, he might have paid close attention to detail, as this was the first time he had ever tried using his weapon in such a manner. But Darkness Itself only paused for a fraction of a second, waiting to see if the last resort was going to be necessary: hurling himself straight into the path of the deadly blast on a suicide mission to save his Master.

It was a very near thing. But the Dark Spear’s aim was true and it ruined Crombel and Aris’ victory dance by smashing the Union satellite to smithereens. The blast from the explosion rocked Frankenstein back down to Earth’s atmosphere proper and if he had had any oxygen to do so, he’d have cackled all the way down. Because he wasn’t done yet. Not in the least.

But, his Master came first. He had at least enough sanity left to make sure that Raizel was okay. Plunging down to earth like an avenging angel of death, he found his Master on top of his compound. For the house had been transformed into a fortress, with only a small metal bunker visible aboveground, as per Emergency Protocol 999. Tao had in fact come through.

When he saw Raizel lying on the roof, his hidden-away heart somehow skipped a beat. Any hope of being restored to sanity left him, however, when he saw blood dripping from his Master’s lips and felt the intensity of his agony. “MASTER! I SHALL AVENGE THEE!”

Had he stayed a moment longer, he would have seen Raizel’s eyes go wide with shock.

***

Raizel lay on the rooftop in a daze. He was well practiced at ignoring his own physical pain in order to persevere and do his job. That was nothing. It was something he had mastered centuries ago. But this was a whole different kind of agony. Frankenstein _needed him_ and he didn’t know if he had the strength to reach his Bonded in time to prevent him from losing himself entirely to the Darkness. He could not allow this to happen.  

Reaching within himself, the Noblesse let his consciousness sink down into the earth. Deep, deep underground, he knew, lay a river of light, to which all living creatures could connect. It was the blood flowing in the veins of the earth itself. If he could plug into those layers of light, he could scan the earth for his Bonded without having to use very much of his own waning power.

Taking a deep breath, he concentrated on letting go of all physical and emotional pain, his fear for the children and for Frankenstein, everything that had transpired in the past week. Frankenstein’s appalling and frightful countenance flashed across his mind – _my precious Bonded, to see him in such a state –_ he banished those thoughts as soon as they appeared. Small tendrils of light began to appear and he breathed into them, causing them to glow a faint ruby red.

The underground network expanded and crimson veins awakened beneath him in all directions. _Please help me find my Bonded. He has gone to a Dark place. He will be dealing out murder and vengeance indiscriminately. I can stop him. But I require your assistance._

Soon an answering glimmer came from deep within the earth and the Noblesse followed it like a heartbeat, traveling gently along the radiant river, his consciousness continually scanning for any sign of his Bonded, any trace of his presence. It was unnerving to be cut off from Frankenstein like this, but his current condition impaired him significantly, and as for his Bonded’s current condition, alas…

The shock of their bond rekindling nearly caused Raizel to instinctively shut down. What he felt coming at him from the other side of their bond was absolutely terrifying. If he hadn’t spent centuries facing every grim and ghastly demonic creature to ever walk the face of the earth, he might have been frozen in place.

But he knew his Bonded was there under all of that horror and he knew that he was the only one who was going to be able to pull him out. Gathering his strength, he reached out, trying to make himself heard amidst the chaos.

**_Frankenstein._ **

There was no answer. Raizel tried to get an image of what was happening, but their connection was weak. It wasn’t hard to get the gist of it, however, because Frankenstein’s feelings were coming through in vivid colors: blinding rage, agonizing pain, and something even more unnerving: euphoria. This gruesome rapture was something that his Bonded usually tried to hide from him, but Raizel was quite aware that Frankenstein took great pleasure in killing. He had had to stop him on many occasions before it went too far. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to do it this time.

**_Frankenstein. Stop._ **

Nothing. And then:

_Who are you to tell me to stop?? Only my Master may order me!_

His mental tone was rough, jarring, so far from his usual deference.

**_Frankenstein. I order you to stop._ **

Laughter erupted across their bond, the laughter of a madman.

_My Master’s words carry Power! You are not my Master! You are weak!_

_You are not my Master._ That statement cut Raizel to the bone. It shouldn’t have hurt. He was aware that Frankenstein was not in his right mind. But it hurt nevertheless.

The Noblesse felt despair in that moment, but he wasn’t about to give up. There had to be a way for him to reach his Bonded. He just needed to find it.

***

Frankenstein halted for a moment, panting, confused. Why had he stopped? This was the greatest day of his entire life. Licking his lips, he tasted the bitter salt of crimson blood and grinned from ear to ear. He had forgotten how delicious it was to be covered in gore from head to toe. Somewhere along the way had lost count of how many he had impaled with the Dark Spear. Maybe as many as Vlad the Impaler? _Frankenstein the Impaler_ had a nice ring to it, too. Supposedly Vlad had once created an entire forest of impaled bodies. It was too bad the Dark Spear swallowed its victims so quickly. Leaving a forest of corpses was a great way to show your enemies that you meant business. Ingenious, really.

Everything had been going so well, too. The Dark Spear was in its ecstasy. It had kicked into overdrive and had somehow been able to find Crombel’s location based on recognition of its own kind. If Frankenstein had been in his right mind, this may have worried him, as it meant his weapon and Crombel’s were linked somehow, which could be extremely dangerous. But fortunately or unfortunately, at the moment this did not concern him. He had only one thing on his mind: murder, delightfully bloody murder. Trifling details could wait.

The Union did their level best, sending out more and more minions that only seemed to get uglier and uglier as their relative strength increased. Frankenstein swatted them like flies. He was pretty sure Crombel tried to hit him a couple more times with his thrice-damned satellites, but either Tao had taken care of them (he really was serious about giving that kid a raise) or he was now too close for him to strike safely.

Either way, it had been child’s play to shred their little sanctum to scrap metal. Yuri and Aris took a stab at fighting him head on – _didn’t I already fucking kill you? Honestly, can’t these people just do me a favor and stay. fucking. dead??_ – but it was a mostly pitiful attempt and the Dark Spear gobbled them up like Han Shinwoo gobbled chips, leaving crumbs all over creation. If he had been in a polite mood, he’d have apologized for leaving all those entrails on the carpet, but courtesy had gone out the window the instant they dared threaten his Master.

While for the most part, Crombel had proved himself to be yet another bombastic and uninteresting villain – “I knew I was destined to fight you ever since I first read your notebook!” – _yawn –_ Frankenstein had to hand it to him, he had managed to create a very formidable weapon. Definitely lost points for being a dirty thief, though. _Could any of these morons create something on their own without stealing from me? Sheesh. Pathetic._

Nevertheless, they were quite evenly matched. It was unnerving a bit, almost like fighting himself. _If I were uglier than a sack of werewolf assholes, that is._ But the weird thing was, he kept _hearing_ something, something that seemed important, somehow, although it was hard to discern with the Dark Spear making all that infernal noise in his head. “Yesssss! Kill him! Kill him and let Us join our brethren! Kill him and you, too, will join Us! This is our DESTINY!”

 _Whatever,_ he thought, dodging another half-formed wall of dark spikes. It had been a lot of fun, all of this glorious violence, but having already broken the sound barrier, thrown the Dark Spear straight into outer space and committed a whole lot of homicide today, Frankenstein was _tired._ He definitely still wanted to kill Crombel, but it seemed like they had been fighting for hours. They were both nearly out of power and had taking to slugging it out like schoolboys in the mud.

Plus it kept nagging him, that _voice,_ as if there were something important he was forgetting…

**_Frankenstein. Stop._ **

_What the hell?_ Who could be saying that? It couldn’t be his Master. His Master was… unwell. It made him suddenly angry. _Who are you to tell me to stop?? Only my Master may order me!_

**_Frankenstein. I order you to stop._ **

Okay, now this was just getting pathetic. Apparently he had not yet used up his quota of maniacal laughter for today. Cackling at the top of his lungs, he launched another whip of spikes in Crombel’s direction.

_My Master’s words carry Power! You are not my Master! You are weak!_

Strangely, a current of pain ran through him at that proclamation and he staggered. _What was… happening?_

A torrent of puzzling emotions was befuddling him. He nearly slipped and fell when Crombel came at him with his fists, blocking him just in time. _If I could just… kill this… bastard…_ Then they both came tumbling down and they were literally rolling around in the mud, each trying to strangle the other. Frankenstein knew he could end him, he was _sure_ if it, the Dark Spear was sure if it ( _yes, yesssssss_ ), he just had to do something about this buzzing in his ear, this confusion, this sudden hesitation...

**_Frankenstein you mustn’t_ **

He shook his head, trying to dislodge these troublesome thoughts.

**_Frankenstein you must listen_ **

If he could just get rid of Crombel, he could figure out what this other stuff was later. _Why… won’t… you… just… DIE??_

In that moment, many things happened at once. Frankenstein felt a shock of pain – _hurt,_ he had _hurt_ someone – then he found himself on his back with Crombel’s hands on his throat. _No…!_ He felt himself starting to lose consciousness, and then…

Suddenly, a flood of images came to him, unbidden. His Master’s soft hands touching his face; Raizel holding him after waking up from a nightmare, stroking his hair, telling him **_Frankenstein, you’re okay, it’s going to be okay_** ; he and his Master walking along the beach, hand in hand, the sun quietly setting behind them; sitting at the dinner table with their little makeshift family, Raizel waiting for his ramen noodles to get soggy, all of their orphaned children happily satiated; standing on the balcony with his Master, leaning back into his quiet strength…

**_Frankenstein. Come home._ **

His eyes snapped open. Crombel’s frenzied, bloodshot gaze met his. Then he went completely limp. Not to be undone, Crombel continued squeezing his throat until he was completely satisfied.

It wasn’t enough. Frankenstein slid out from under him like a snake, then pounced. This time, though, he was no longer interested in choking the life out of this pathetic creature. He merely smacked his head against a rock until he was unconscious. Not dead. Just done.

As he got up and started walking away, the Dark Spear resumed its howling.“Finish him! Claim his life! You _promised_ Us!”

“I promised you murder. I think I delivered. You’re just going to have to be satisfied with that.”

Their clamor continued, but Frankenstein blocked it out with a single image: his Master’s tiny smile, lying on top of a building far away, one which they called home.

**Author's Note:**

> Note: Dies Irae means "Day of Wrath." The Aztec death whistle is a real thing. You can look it up on youtube. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, though: it’s legit terrifying. Also, I intended for this to be longer? But the new chapter comes out tomorrow, at which time this fic will go AU. So I may add on an extra chapter or two if there's interest. It really depends on where the canon goes.


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